Foods for focus

What foods are the best for improving focus?

Each of us has our own unique relationship with food. Whether that’s thinking of food as fuel to enhance your gym routine, seeing the dinner table as a space to connect with your family, or feeling a swell of inner happiness when your colleague leaves their snack draw open when she leaves early on a Friday. Our food intake can affect energy levels, our physical health, but also our mood.

Research has found that 90% of serotonin receptors are in the gut. Serotonin has a range of purposes affecting the whole body, but importantly, it acts as a natural mood stabilizer, regulating happiness, anxiety and mood.

Can what we’re eating affect how focused we are in the workplace? The answer is yes! There are several foods that are known to increase focus and concentration, which we have explored by mind mapping.

Improve focus and concentration

Blueberries

Green tea

Green tea can aid focus for two reasons; firstly, it has caffeine in (one of the most common ingredients we rely on to give us a boost at work). The second important ingredient is L-Theanine, an ingredient proven to increase alpha-wave activity which releases caffeine more slowly, instead of all at once, avoiding a caffeine crash.

Water

Dark chocolate

Dark chocolate contains a small amount of caffeine, which keeps us feeling alert. It also contains magnesium, which helps reduce stress and stimulates the release of endorphins and serotonin, causing a lift in mood.

Before you get your hopes up, this does only apply to dark chocolate. No, milky ways and giant chocolate buttons do not have the same effect (unfortunately).

Nuts

A small amount of nuts, approximately an ounce a day, can keep us feeling focused because they are a great source of the antioxidant Vitamin E, which is associated with less cognitive decline as you age.

Start cooking

It’s all well and good knowing the kind of food that can keep you focused but, all these ingredients need to make a meal, right? We’ve whipped up a great recipe using three of the main foods that aid focus. It’s a salmon stir fry recipe that makes enough for lunch the next day!